Martin McCauley

(click on photo for full size image)

Email:-

I have been
covering Russia and eastern Europe for over 40 years and this has
taught me that everything is not as it seems. Until 1991 it was
inconceivable that the Soviet Union would disintegrate and disappear
from the map of the world. It self-destructed. Why? We are still
looking for the answers. If a superpower with enough nuclear weapons to
end human life on this planet can disappear overnight, anything in
international affairs is possible. Hence one is always looking for
indications of the next crisis, be it human, economic, political or
ecological. The world we live in is changing more rapidly than ever
before and this puts a premium on good analysis. One needs to analyze
the present bearing in mind the past. This does not mean becoming a
prisoner of the past and seeing everything as conditioned by past
experience. Perceptive analysis takes the past into account but
attempts to explain the shape of today's events and a way out of the
morass. Russia is often a prisoner of its past - its self-isolation
during the communist era compounded age-old Russian suspiciousness of
foreigners and alien ideas. Comprehending contemporary Russia and where
it is heading is quite a challenge but one that is important. Russia is
the largest state on earth and has the hydrocarbons and minerals to
play an increasingly crucial role in the global economy.

Russia's
greatest challenge is to
keep pace with China. The latter is a superpower in the making and
worth detailed study. I follow Chinese affairs with great interest.

The scourge of
today's world is terrorism. What interests me are the reasons behind
this phenomenon. What type of person becomes a terrorist and why are
some willing to sacrifice their lives to promote their cause? It
appears to me that terrorists can be divided into two groups: those
with whom the existing authorities can negotiate and those who refuse
to negotiate. The former group has political aims: independence (such
as the IRA or ETA) and are amenable to a deal. The latter group is
religious and are more interested in the next world than this world.

I have taught in
several universities, first and foremost the University of London, and
have published many books on Russia, eastern Europe and Central Asia. I
researched Al Qaeda for a book on Afghanistan and Central Asia. My
current research is concentrated on the rise and fall of communism and
terrorism. The latter book with examine state terrorism (Nazi rule in
Czechoslovakia for instance), religious (Al Qaeda) and secular (IRA,
ETA) terrorism.

July, 2004.

Web design by Paul Komierowski cooleague.com
- last updated 29th Sep 2007 8.29 am
Pages best viewed using a CSS2-compliant browser such as Firefox or Opera -
Javascript needs to be enabled to directly open email links